1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:04,800 Welcome to the Islands Christian Church podcast. 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,480 Subscribe to hear a new episode every week. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:12,080 Thanks for joining us. So over the past few weeks in 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,080 this, we've been in this series called make room, creating space 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,240 for the life Jesus offers you. All right, we've been talking 6 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:20,640 about, you know, what does that mean? 7 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,080 And basically we've been talking about the Christian idea of this 8 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,160 is a this is a doctrinal terms. If you're new to the church or 9 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:28,960 new to the Bible, maybe you've never heard this before. 10 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:30,680 And if you've been here the past few weeks, you've heard it 11 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,200 because I've been saying it. There's this doctrinal term 12 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,480 called sanctification, right? And you're like, oh, what does 13 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,040 that word mean? So we're going to start with 14 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,760 everybody saying it together. 123 Sanctification, all right. 15 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,440 And so sanctification is this word that simply means it is the 16 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,240 the work of the Holy Spirit. And when you become a believer, 17 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,520 the Holy Spirit indwells you and it is the lifelong work of the 18 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,840 Holy Spirit to form you into a person who resembles Jesus 19 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:56,800 Christ. All right, So when you read the 20 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,040 Gospels and you read this about you read about this amazing man 21 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:02,520 named Jesus, what the Holy Spirit's doing, and you become a 22 00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,239 believer, he's actually forming and shaping you over your 23 00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,520 lifetime to be like Jesus, to resemble him. 24 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,600 And we've been learning things in this series, like the fact 25 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,440 that if you were a believer in Jesus, then God himself, the 26 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,920 Holy Spirit governs your life. He's leading your life. 27 00:01:18,200 --> 00:01:23,200 And as he renews our mind and we set our minds on what's true 28 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,720 about us, that you are adopted, that you are in the family, that 29 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,120 that you are chosen, that God loves you, that he's for you. 30 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,280 As you set your mind on those truths, then then you're the 31 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:33,960 Holy Spirit's renewing your mind about what's true about you and 32 00:01:33,960 --> 00:01:37,080 you live into your identity. So Christian Christianity is not 33 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,040 about white knuckling some moralism. 34 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:42,000 I mean, we don't need another religion about moralism. 35 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,080 We have enough of those. Christianity isn't an invitation 36 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,080 to you to try harder. Christianity is an invitation 37 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,040 for you to believe better, to believe what's true about you, 38 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,080 that Jesus Christ has called you to himself, that he loves you, 39 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:57,680 and that he's given you a new identity. 40 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,040 I like to think about it this way, that when we become a 41 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,640 Christian God, who is the creator because he is the 42 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,720 creator, he's the only one who can be a recreator. 43 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:11,000 And when you become a Christian, you are recreated, you are made 44 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:12,960 new. The Bible says that if any 45 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,440 person is in Christ, new creation has come. 46 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:18,520 Like this is what's true of us. And this is the idea of, of 47 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,040 sanctification. And so, but this raises an 48 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,120 important question and this is what we're going to talk about 49 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:25,920 today. This is great, Stephen. 50 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:27,920 Sanctification is great. Maybe some of you are beginning 51 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:31,120 to reflect on this and, and meditate on these ideas over the 52 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,240 last few weeks. And, and here's the question 53 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:34,960 that we want to wrestle with today and we want to talk about 54 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,280 today. If this change is happening 55 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,360 inside of all, all of us that are believers, where, where do 56 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,040 we see the evidence of this? In other words, where do we 57 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:48,960 actually see our changes lived out? 58 00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:52,800 What can I point to? You know, what can I say? 59 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,400 Look, look, this is some evidence that I'm seeing 60 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,480 sanctification happen in my life, right? 61 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:04,200 And so the New Testament shows us something that is quite easy 62 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,720 to miss, especially as Americans, because we are 63 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,120 extraordinarily individual. We are individual thinkers. 64 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,680 We, we, we are pull yourself up by your bootstraps. 65 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,680 We are, I mean, we are the, the, the, the people who went West 66 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,120 and, you know, went into the frontier like this is the, this 67 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,880 is who we are as Americans. But the New Testament make 68 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:26,640 something very make something very clear that is easy for us 69 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:31,240 to miss and that is this the Spirit, the Holy Spirit changes 70 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:34,760 us personally. He does, He changes us 71 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,480 personally, but he forms us collectively. 72 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,840 So he changes us personally, but he forms us in community. 73 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,040 He forms us collectively and that's kind of our big idea 74 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:48,840 today. So if you're a note taker, you 75 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:54,680 write that down. Now the life Jesus gives us, the 76 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,160 sanctification that the Holy Spirit's doing in your life, the 77 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,160 new creation that you are becoming, that you have become 78 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:05,920 and are becoming, that life was never meant to grow in 79 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,880 isolation. God intends for our new life to 80 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,800 grow in community with other believers. 81 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:18,519 In other words, the Spirit does not just form a new person, he 82 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:22,400 forms a new people. Like this is the message of the 83 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,040 New Testament. It's not just that, hey, get 84 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:27,640 saved, go off to heaven in the by and by. 85 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:29,280 Aren't you glad you became a Christian? 86 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:34,080 Now the message of the New Testament is we come to Christ. 87 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:38,680 He forms us and shapes us into this new creation. 88 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:44,360 And he is doing that to our community, to us as a collection 89 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:49,760 of people, a family. He's, he has a new people that 90 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:54,640 he calls his own. Now this is exactly what the 91 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,360 apostle Peter is describing in the passage we're going to look 92 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,040 at today. So if you have your Bibles, you 93 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,080 can go to first Peter, we're going to be in chapter 2. 94 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,680 If you have your smartphone, I don't know why I say smartphone 95 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,200 like you have your phone. Who's not carrying a smartphone? 96 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:08,960 Actually, I have a friend. Here's a flip phone. 97 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:13,600 I'm super envious actually, but he never text me, which is I 98 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:17,000 text him and he calls me. I'm like, I'm like, buy my phone 99 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,600 actually. But if you go to your Bibles, 100 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,520 the first Peter 2 or in your phones first Peter 2 on the 101 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,560 Bible app. In this passage, Peter gives us 102 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,280 what I believe is one of the most powerful pictures of what 103 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:36,360 the church actually is as described in the New Testament. 104 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,520 Because a lot of us have messed up ideas of what the church is. 105 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,160 And so we don't really, most of us aren't actually reading, you 106 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,520 know, Matthew through revelation to discover what the church is. 107 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,560 Most of us are basing what we believe the church is on our 108 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,320 experiences, what we see in the news, what we see in the media. 109 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:54,640 I, I hear people all the time criticize the church who've 110 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,520 never actually read what the church was intended to be. 111 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,080 And so, yeah, the church can be broken. 112 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:01,920 It can be messed up because I don't know if you know this or 113 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,640 not. I'm here and so are you. 114 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:10,800 So it's, it's a mess. The church is a mess because I'm 115 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:12,600 a mess. And you're, you guys know you're 116 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,920 a mess, right? OK, but just because we're a 117 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,160 mess and because the church oftentimes can be seen as a mess 118 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,480 and seen as broken because we're broken people. 119 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,040 The New Testament describes something quite beautiful. 120 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:27,160 And I think what we're the passage we're going to look at 121 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,560 today is one of those passages that describes something quite 122 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:34,360 beautiful. Now, just before the section I'm 123 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,680 going to read in the end of chapter 1, remember, Peter's not 124 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,960 writing chapters and verses. He's just writing a letter. 125 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,960 This is just a letter by a guy named Peter. 126 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,040 They really worked hard on the title, didn't they? 127 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,880 First, Peter. So he's not writing big numbers 128 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:49,640 and little numbers. Those were added much later, 129 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,440 centuries later. He's just writing. 130 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:56,000 And right before what we call chapter 2, he says something 131 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,120 interesting. Peter says that as believers who 132 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,000 are part of this church, we are to love each other deeply. 133 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,840 I think about that. This community of people is 134 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:07,280 called to love each other deeply. 135 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,560 And he says the reason you're supposed to love each other 136 00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,160 deeply is because you've been born again. 137 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:14,800 You hear that? Born again. 138 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,280 Remember I said when you become a Christian, you get you become 139 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,120 a new creation. That's Paul. 140 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:21,640 That's what we read last week, Paul. 141 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,200 But here's Peter saying something very similar at the 142 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:29,640 end of chapter 1. We are born again by the living 143 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:35,360 and enduring word of God. All right, So if you're like a 144 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:37,720 critic of Christianity, don't really bind to church stuff, 145 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:39,360 that's OK, man. We're glad we love it that 146 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,160 you're here. Here's what's interesting about 147 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,280 that. You believe in love even if you 148 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,600 don't believe in God, because everybody, I've never met a 149 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,720 person who's an atheist who didn't believe in love. 150 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,040 And love is, I say this all the time. 151 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:55,480 My kids almost mimic me and mock me a little bit. 152 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,600 You know, love is one of those things you can't prove. 153 00:07:57,600 --> 00:07:59,800 You can't go out to the lobby and get a box of it and bring it 154 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:02,440 in and set it on the table. But we all believe it exists. 155 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:04,840 We believe that it's a faith claim. 156 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,120 We believe it in faith. We believe we love our children 157 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,440 and, and, and if I say we'll prove you love your children, 158 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:13,720 like show it to me. Follow the science on love. 159 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,840 Show me the science of love. Well, you can talk about 160 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,080 evolutionary processes and chemicals and all these things 161 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,680 that are happening in your brain for the continuation of the 162 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,600 species that you don't eat your children so they will survive. 163 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:27,600 And that's why you feel like you love them. 164 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:32,760 OK, Well, that's not love, that's trickery, all right? 165 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:37,159 That's that's not love. And so when you hear something 166 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,960 like this, if you're a skeptic of Christianity that that the 167 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,200 New Testament says, hey, you group of Christians love each 168 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,600 other deeply, love each other deeply because you've been made 169 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:50,640 new. You've been born again through 170 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,640 the enduring word of God like God's, if that's talking about 171 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,040 his spoken word, God has spoken over your life and made you new. 172 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,920 And the evidence of that newness is that you love each other 173 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:04,040 deeply. Now if you're not a Christian, 174 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:05,120 you don't bind to the church stuff. 175 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:09,520 Doesn't that sound at least somewhat attractive that a 176 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,480 community of people their primary command, their number 177 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:18,520 one command as a community is to love each other deeply. 178 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:23,040 All right so from that foundation that call on us as a 179 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,040 crit on crit as Christians, the church. 180 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,560 Peter goes on to say this in verses one through 3 of chapter 181 00:09:28,560 --> 00:09:31,360 2. So love each other deeply. 182 00:09:31,480 --> 00:09:36,760 Verse one. Therefore rid yourselves of all 183 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:44,560 malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander of 184 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:50,040 every kind, like newborn babies crave spiritual milk so that by 185 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,080 it you may grow up in your salvation. 186 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,920 Now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 187 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:58,000 And here's our first idea this morning. 188 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,080 If you're a note taker, you ready the Spirit, the Holy 189 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,760 Spirit grows us together. He grows us together. 190 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,480 Peter begins by listing several sins in verse 1. 191 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,160 He says, you know, rid yourselves of these things, 192 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:15,240 malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. 193 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:17,840 Now these are these all sound like things we should get rid of 194 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,640 in our lives. Do you think our nation let me 195 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,400 ask you this here. Do you think if just Congress 196 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:32,000 rid itself of malice, stop there. 197 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:42,160 If if Congress rid itself of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy 198 00:10:42,160 --> 00:10:45,600 and slander, would your life be better? 199 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:53,320 Yes. Yes, if there if no one lied, no 200 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:57,720 one slandered another that were in the halls of government, how 201 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:01,360 would it be for the weak of our nation? 202 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,080 How would it be for the poor of our nation? 203 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:08,400 And how would it be for the wealthy of our nation? 204 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:14,320 This is this is a picture that we all desire without even 205 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,520 understanding why we desire it. Yeah, I would love a community 206 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:20,800 to exist without malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy 207 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,960 and slander. Now, notice about these sins. 208 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,040 These aren't private sins. You know, this isn't like 209 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,880 Peter's listing out, hey, you know, stop doing this bad thing 210 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:30,640 and stop doing that bad thing that you're doing in private. 211 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:34,400 No, these are relational sins. These are things that damage 212 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:39,040 trust and destroy community. Peter is saying because you have 213 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:42,600 been born again, because you're a new creation, because you 214 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,720 belong to Christ, you now relate to each other differently. 215 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,520 You respond to each other differently, you react to each 216 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,600 other differently. These types of relational sins, 217 00:11:54,680 --> 00:11:57,680 malice and envy and hypocrisy and these types of relational 218 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:03,160 sins, they can no longer survive in a community that is shaped by 219 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,360 deeply loving each other. They can't be in that. 220 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,520 In other words, when we deeply love each other, these things 221 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:16,320 are run out of that community. They are because to love each 222 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,920 other deeply means I can't have malice for you, and I certainly 223 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:23,040 would never deceive you. And I won't put on a fake front 224 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:26,080 for you and be a hypocrite. And I won't envy when something 225 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:28,160 good happens to you. I will celebrate. 226 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,200 I will rejoice with those who rejoice. 227 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,000 Why? Because I love you and because I 228 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:35,880 love you. I would never slander you. 229 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,000 Even if you told me some deep dark secret that you are so 230 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:42,160 ashamed of, I would not respond by putting it in the street. 231 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,360 I would respond, loving you deeply. 232 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:49,120 Doesn't this sound like a great community? 233 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,560 Doesn't this sound like something you'd want to be a 234 00:12:52,560 --> 00:12:57,000 part of? Now here's the deal. 235 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:04,680 Authentic faith is revealed most clearly and how we treat other 236 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,760 believers. And I have been a part of some 237 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:11,120 churches and I've seen some stuff. 238 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:12,440 Have you guys ever seen some stuff? 239 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:14,920 Have you guys ever seen some stuff? 240 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:19,680 Like we're, we're like believers Now, I'm not talking about non 241 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:20,480 believers. I'm not. 242 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:22,680 I'm talking about the House of God. 243 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,320 The people of God will turn on each other and burn each other 244 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:36,030 to the ground in a second. And what Peter is saying is that 245 00:13:36,350 --> 00:13:41,830 genuine rebirth, new birth, being born again is revealed 246 00:13:41,830 --> 00:13:45,350 most clearly in how you treat members of your family, the 247 00:13:45,350 --> 00:13:48,920 family of God. And then Peter gives another 248 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,240 command. He says like newborn babies, 249 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,400 craves pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in 250 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,120 your salvation. Now there's something 251 00:13:57,120 --> 00:13:58,640 interesting in the language here. 252 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,880 I want to mention very quickly the word crave. 253 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,520 He's kind of carrying this idea of a baby who's hungry anybody. 254 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,880 I have four children. So they were I had two babies at 255 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,400 one time. Marianne had two babies at one 256 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,800 time, and I was raising these two babies with with her. 257 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:17,760 And when they were hungry, these little teeny tiny babies could 258 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,640 wail and scream and yell like nobody's business. 259 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:22,880 Do you know why they were craving? 260 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,000 They were craving some food, all right. 261 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:32,080 They were craving their Mama. And So what this text is saying 262 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,960 is that we want so badly to be mature in our faith, to be more 263 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:41,520 like Christ, that we crave deeply pure spiritual milk, that 264 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:43,560 we want the things of the Spirit to be true of us. 265 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:45,160 And we desire it. We crave it. 266 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,080 And that's also something very interesting in this text. 267 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:50,600 He says, like newborn babies crave spiritual milk. 268 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,200 So that by it you may grow up. You may grow up. 269 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:59,320 The word you, YOU, everybody say YOUYOU. 270 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,480 The word you in English is a bit of a problem. 271 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,520 Do you guys know this? The word you in English is the 272 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:07,600 same word whether it's singular or plural. 273 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:09,760 You guys know that. But that is not true in Greek. 274 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:11,960 And then what? This was what this was. 275 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,680 Well, this was written in it was Koine Greek, and they had a word 276 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:19,480 for plural you and a word for singular you. 277 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:23,400 And so that this you here is is plural. 278 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,160 It's not singular. So there there's this is 279 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,160 interesting to me because what Peter is what when we read this, 280 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,760 we read this as individuals like individualize. 281 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,400 We individualize it. We say, oh, I need to start 282 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:38,400 craving pure spiritual milk so I can grow up in my salvation. 283 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,720 And yeah, that's true. But that's not the heart of this 284 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:42,840 text. The heart of this text is kind 285 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,680 of in Savannah terms, more like this. 286 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,840 Peter's basically saying crave spiritual milk so that y'all, 287 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:53,240 y'all can grow up in your salvation. 288 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,440 Crave pure spiritual milk so y'all can grow up, crave pure, 289 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,200 crave the things of God so y'all can mature y'all. 290 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,080 Now if you're not from down here, use guysans, right? 291 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:07,880 Use guys. You guys can grow up, you know. 292 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,880 And so this is that when we read the Bible, a lot of times these 293 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,280 these YOU, these you, this is almost always plural. 294 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:20,000 The emphasis is on the emphasis is on community, pursuing 295 00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,760 spiritual maturity together. Yes, the Spirit is at work and 296 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,000 each of us personally, but he, the Holy Spirit is assuming 297 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:30,280 something about you. He is assuming that we are 298 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,400 living our lives among the people of God in community, a 299 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:38,640 people who love each other deeply, who put away malice and 300 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:42,480 deceit and hypocrisy. And he says in this community, 301 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,360 all of you together crave the spiritual things of God. 302 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:50,640 And then Peter ends this section with a beautiful phrase. 303 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,520 He says this now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 304 00:16:54,920 --> 00:17:00,560 And I love this because Peter assumes something about people 305 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,320 in community together. Again, this is plural. 306 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,800 Now that y'all have tasted that the Lord is good, he assumes 307 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,640 something about us. And you know what he's assuming 308 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,560 about us who are believers in community together, He's 309 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,119 assuming that we don't just have academic knowledge about God, 310 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:20,000 that we don't just have, you know, book knowledge about God. 311 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,880 And those things are vitally important and we need those 312 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,240 things. But he's saying it's not just 313 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,680 that you've got information about God in your head. 314 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:30,240 He's saying, no, you've tasted it. 315 00:17:30,720 --> 00:17:32,760 You've tasted the goodness of God. 316 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,600 Now that's interesting to me that he chose those words 317 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,200 because when you taste something that's good, what are your 318 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,400 reactions in response? How do you re tend to respond 319 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:41,800 and react? Like when you taste something 320 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:42,920 really good? What do you, what do you? 321 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,240 Is there anybody who's really expressive about good food? 322 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:46,080 Anybody. Come on. 323 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:47,920 What do you? What do you do if you taste? 324 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:49,800 Yeah, Nate's up here. Nate can cook like nobody's 325 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:51,240 business. I've had a steak this brother 326 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,000 cooked one time. I put the thing in my mouth. 327 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:57,480 I was like, whoa, Oh my goodness, like, I mean, I would 328 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,160 all I would almost like my kids are growing. 329 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:01,440 I might move into like his little extra apartment, garage 330 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:02,640 apartment or something. Just live there. 331 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:04,240 You know, you cook for me, right? 332 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,120 You take care of me and I but I got to bring Marianne, so you 333 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,520 got to cook for her too. But but you know, he cooked that 334 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:11,120 steak. He cooked a steak or whatever. 335 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,160 You know, that, that thing, you put that food in your mouth and 336 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,360 you go and it's like all the taste buds are alive and 337 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,520 everything just like fireworks going here, just like, you know, 338 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,680 you just want more of this, you know, like, please clear the 339 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,120 everybody move. I'm eating at all. 340 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:27,800 You know, I was at a meeting yesterday and this lady had made 341 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:29,000 a bring up, brought a pound cake. 342 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,280 And, and so, and it was near the end and most people were gone 343 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:33,440 and she cut a piece of pound cake. 344 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:35,440 She gave me this little piece and this little, it was enough 345 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:39,520 to make you mad, you know that. And I, I put that, put that cake 346 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,160 in my mouth and I was like, that's so good, That's so good. 347 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:44,600 And it was probably about 1/3 of the, you know, third of the cake 348 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:45,480 there. She's like, we'll get you some 349 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:46,440 more. So I reached over and grabbed 350 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,520 the Saran wrap that was in. I wrapped it all up and handed 351 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:50,720 her the plate and I literally walked out with the cake. 352 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:54,480 She goes, you want it? I said, yeah, take this thing 353 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:56,600 home. She goes, you can have it. 354 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:58,920 But it was so good. And so the language that Peter's 355 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:00,240 using here is this language of taste. 356 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,240 You've you've tasted that the Lord is good. 357 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,360 You, you, you've had an experience. 358 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:05,360 You don't just have book knowledge. 359 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:07,280 Book knowledge is important. You have to have that. 360 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,600 But you've gone beyond book knowledge in the sense that 361 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:12,840 you've actually experienced the goodness of God. 362 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,440 You've you've, you've, you've tasted, you've, you've, you've 363 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,160 had something happen inside of you that you can't deny. 364 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,760 And and do you also notice, like when you eat Nate's steak, you, 365 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:26,920 you really can't describe it either. 366 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,320 You know, when you taste something really good, you're 367 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,680 like, yeah, this is like, I mean, unless you're a chef or 368 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,600 somebody like that, you're like, oh, it has this in it now, you 369 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,520 know, But I mean, for us normal folks, we're like, I mean, I 370 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,000 don't know, it's just amazing. Well, tell me what you taste. 371 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:48,480 Joy, happiness, salvation, I mean, and it's the same way when 372 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,360 you know and taste the goodness of God, you it's hard to 373 00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:54,080 describe, it's hard to put into words. 374 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:58,800 And the implication of this is that this experience of God's 375 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:03,040 goodness and the growth that flows from it happens as we live 376 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,520 together with the people of God. So yes, we grow in private 377 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,800 disciplines, we pray alone, we read Scripture alone, sure, but 378 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:12,280 the New Testament is clear. You ready? 379 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,760 The Spirit changes us personally, but he forms us 380 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,560 collectively. He changes us personally, but he 381 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:21,400 forms us collectively. So Peter begins by showing us 382 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,600 the Spirit grows us together. But Peter isn't finished with 383 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,720 the picture just yet. Because spiritual growth is not 384 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,800 only is not the only thing God is doing among us as his people. 385 00:20:30,800 --> 00:20:35,600 He's not just growing us. He's not simply growing us, He's 386 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,160 also building something. And Peter shifts his metaphor, 387 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:40,720 shifts his imagery in the next verse. 388 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:45,640 He moves from the imagery of newborn babies growing on pure 389 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:49,240 spiritual milk to the image of stones being placed into a 390 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,680 temple for God to live in. Listen to what he says. 391 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:55,040 This is about the church. Remember, this is about the this 392 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:57,360 is Peter's description of us, the church. 393 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,760 Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 2, it says, as you come to him, the 394 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:04,240 living stone, rejected by humans, but chosen by God and 395 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:07,360 precious to him, you also, like living stones, are being built 396 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,880 into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering 397 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:14,000 spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. 398 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,280 And this leads us to the second idea. 399 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:17,640 Peter wants to show us, you ready. 400 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,480 The Spirit is building us together. 401 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,480 So if the Spirit is growing us together #1 #2 the Spirit is 402 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,240 building us together. Now, Peter's using construction 403 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:27,760 language. And you got in construction 404 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:28,600 here. You know, some of you are in 405 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:29,680 construction. You get this. 406 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:32,200 He's talking about construction language here. 407 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,840 And he at the same time is using temple language simultaneously, 408 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,440 construction language, temple language. 409 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:39,760 He says Jesus is the living stone. 410 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:41,920 That's the first thing he says as you come to him, the living 411 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,080 stone. Jesus is the living stone. 412 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,080 And later he would say he's the cornerstone of this building. 413 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,080 So Jesus is the living stone. He's the cornerstone of this 414 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:52,200 building. He says as you come to Jesus, 415 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:57,640 the living stone, then God also makes you a living stone. 416 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,320 He forms us into living stones, and then God places them 417 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,520 together to build something. He's building something. 418 00:22:05,240 --> 00:22:06,920 Now think about a stone by itself. 419 00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:09,880 If a stone was out in the field by itself, it's laying there. 420 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,440 It's just a stone. It's just something you really 421 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,400 need to move so you can mow the grass, right? 422 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:16,480 It's, it's in the way. It's serving no purpose. 423 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:18,840 It's just sitting there. But when a builder comes along 424 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,760 and a builder is looking for stones in order to build a stone 425 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,240 building, then he picks up that stone and he begins to place 426 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:27,480 stones next to each other and on top of each other. 427 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:31,080 And he cuts stone and he shapes stone and he aligns stone with 428 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:33,280 each other. And those stones become 429 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,600 something entirely different than just a stone sitting in the 430 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,480 field. Those stones become a building. 431 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,600 They become a structure. They become, in this text 432 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,040 context that Peter's talking about, they become a house. 433 00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,040 And Peter says that's exactly what God is doing with his 434 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,400 people. He isn't just saving 435 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,360 individuals, He's building something. 436 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:57,680 He's taking our lives one by one and placing them together on 437 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:58,960 Christ. Remember, Christ is the 438 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:00,520 cornerstone. Peter would say later. 439 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,040 He's taking our lives and he's building them one by one and 440 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:06,440 side by side on the cornerstone of Christ in this structure that 441 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,080 he's building with your life and my life as believers in Jesus. 442 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,520 The structure that he's building is he calls it a spiritual 443 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,880 house. Now in the ancient world, 444 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,840 whenever the term spiritual house was written or said, 445 00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,000 everyone would have known what he was talking about. 446 00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:24,920 He was talking about a temple, a temple in, in an Israelite 447 00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,720 history, the temple with the Tabernacle in the temple plays a 448 00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,480 a big important role. And everybody kind of 449 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:31,880 instinctively knows what a temple is. 450 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,760 Even if you're not a religious person, even if you're not a 451 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:35,440 Jesus person, even if you're not a Bible person. 452 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,760 If I say, oh, what happens at a temple, what might you say? 453 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:41,880 Worship happens at a temple, you might say. 454 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,920 Service happens at a temple, you might say if there's an altar at 455 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,160 a temple, depending on the type of temple it is, what else might 456 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:49,560 be happening? Most temples in the ancient 457 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,360 world had waltz. What else happening there? 458 00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:54,640 Sacrifice happening there, right, right. 459 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:57,840 These things are these things are happening at So in in what 460 00:23:57,840 --> 00:23:59,600 did they believe? What did ancient people believe 461 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,320 about their temples? It wasn't just a place to do 462 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:03,240 these things. It was also the place where 463 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:09,240 where their deity lived. It was their deity's home. 464 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:12,520 It was built for their to house their deity. 465 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:15,880 Now Peter says this is you got to catch this man. 466 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,560 The church is a beautiful thing. Peter says that God is building 467 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:26,440 you and I as believers into a temple, a spiritual house, a 468 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,520 place where God dwells among his people. 469 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,000 And so here's the thing. The temple for the God of 470 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,360 creation is no longer made of actual brick and stone. 471 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:39,000 It's no longer made of pillars and walls. 472 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:43,600 The temple now of God where God lives is made-up of people, 473 00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:46,680 believers. God called you to himself, and 474 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,240 he's building us together to dwell among us. 475 00:24:49,320 --> 00:24:56,000 We are the temple of God. Now, Peter's not finished with 476 00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,840 this picture just yet because he says that inside the spiritual 477 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,160 house where God lives, which is us, we are the temple of God, 478 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,160 our community, our family. God lives among us, he says 479 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,400 inside that spiritual house. We so we're not only living 480 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,520 stones, he says we are a holy priesthood. 481 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,880 And maybe you grew up in a faith tradition where the priests were 482 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:18,320 like a special class of people. They were the ones closer to 483 00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:19,400 God. They were the ones you kind of 484 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,560 had to talk to in order to kind of get instructions from God. 485 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,840 Well, the Bible teaches that everyone who comes to Christ is 486 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,840 actually a holy, a set apart priest. 487 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:30,760 You are a set apart priest for God. 488 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:34,960 And so we are not only a living stone being built into a house, 489 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:40,000 but we're also priests set apart by God to serve God and offer 490 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:42,800 him sacrifices. And it's interesting that Peter 491 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,840 says that the sacrifices you offer to God are acceptable not 492 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,520 because they're good, not because you're good, not because 493 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:51,480 you're holy, not because you give a lot of money away. 494 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,080 The sacrifices that you offer to God as a member of his family 495 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:57,600 are acceptable, he says, because of Jesus Christ. 496 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,280 In other words, the salvation you've received through Christ, 497 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:01,720 you have been made right with God. 498 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,680 And so that everything you bring to God is acceptable to God 499 00:26:04,880 --> 00:26:07,680 because it is through Jesus Christ that you bring it. 500 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:12,600 You know, Jesus said in Matthew once that he would build his 501 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,800 church. Interesting words build, He 502 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,880 would build his church. And Peter is showing us what 503 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:20,640 that means. The church is not a building we 504 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:22,840 go to. The church is a people in 505 00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:28,360 community being built together by Jesus, people who serve as 506 00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:35,560 priest, representing God to one another, serving God and serving 507 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,760 each other. You see, we all have a very low 508 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:40,960 view of the church. It's a place we go. 509 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:44,680 We have a, you know, a preacher who got a big bald spot. 510 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,400 I was trying to think of something to make fun of myself 511 00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:49,840 for, but we got a preacher. We got a, you know, people on 512 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:51,400 staff. We got things going on. 513 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:53,400 We have a very low view of the church. 514 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,680 But Peter has a very high view of the church. 515 00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:58,680 He's a high view. The church is a community, a 516 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:04,160 family of people where God dwells among them and in them in 517 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:08,640 that family is a priesthood. It's it's a family of priests, 518 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:14,000 holy priests set aside to serve one another and to serve him. 519 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,800 This is the view of the church according to the Scriptures. 520 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,440 Much better than a place you go on Sundays for an hour, an hour 521 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,480 and 15 minutes, right? Wouldn't you agree with that? 522 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,920 Much better. Now here's the deal, Steven. 523 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,600 This is all good doctrine, by the way, if you want to learn a 524 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,160 new doctrinal term, the term for the study of the church is 525 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,880 called ecclesiology. So today we've been doing some 526 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,040 good ecclesiology. It's good study of the church. 527 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,280 We, we, we've been talking about what the church is. 528 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,440 It's the, it's the, it's the people of God who, who grow 529 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,880 together, who, who are in the, who are the temple of God and 530 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:53,880 who are priests unto God like this is who we are some high 531 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:55,680 view of the church. But Steven, this is great. 532 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,120 It's theoretical. How do we get in? 533 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:58,640 How do we get this into the practical? 534 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,880 Like how do we actually, you know, you know, let this show up 535 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:03,920 in our lives? I mean, if the Spirit is 536 00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:07,800 changing us personally, but he forms us collectively, how do we 537 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:10,240 actually experience that in our church life? 538 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,240 I'm going to give you 3 quick, simple ways that we can make 539 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,440 room for this type of community. You ready real quick? 540 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,800 Make room for consistent presence. 541 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,080 Make room for consistent presence. 542 00:28:22,840 --> 00:28:26,960 Show up like God can't do anything with a stone that stays 543 00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:30,280 in the field. So there's a lot of value and, 544 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:35,800 and in showing up among the family spiritual community forms 545 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,320 when we regularly place ourselves among God's people, 546 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:40,480 that means showing up for worship. 547 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,800 That means being present in small groups, That means putting 548 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,720 ourselves in environments where real relationships can grow. 549 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,480 And I'm going to tell you, as a church, we're continuing to work 550 00:28:49,480 --> 00:28:53,280 hard as a leadership on creating more spaces where you can 551 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,880 experience that kind of community where it can actually 552 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:57,520 happen. And I'm excited because I'm 553 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,080 going to share something about that right before we leave 554 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,800 today. So #1 make room for consistent 555 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,160 presence. Show up to things #2 make room 556 00:29:07,160 --> 00:29:10,400 for honest relationships. Peter begins the passage by 557 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,520 saying rid yourselves of malice to seed hypocrisy, envy, and 558 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:16,400 slander. Those are relational sins. 559 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:20,560 And the opposite of those sins are honesty, humility, and deep 560 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:25,000 love. And here's the thing where there 561 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,280 are honest relationships, there is no need for hypocrisy. 562 00:29:31,600 --> 00:29:33,280 And Peter says this is what the church is. 563 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:38,000 Real Christian community forms. When we move past surface level 564 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,000 conversations. Hey, how are you, Jim? 565 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,360 I'm good, Bill, how are things going? 566 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,120 Well, you know, it's all good. When we move past the surface 567 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:46,880 level conversations and we begin to share our lives with one 568 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:49,200 another. We're not pretending anymore. 569 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,440 We're not, you know, pretending that everything is OK. 570 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:54,120 We're not performing anymore. But we're able to say to people, 571 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:56,560 you know, I'm struggling, I need prayer right now. 572 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,560 I need help. Or this one, I really messed up 573 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,560 and I don't know who to tell that I messed up, but I need to 574 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,400 tell somebody I messed up. Like we need a community where 575 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:06,480 those types of relationships happen. 576 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:08,560 So make room for honest relationships. 577 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:12,640 The Spirit builds us together when we stop pretending and 578 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:16,320 start walking honestly with one another and #3 make room to 579 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,800 serve others. Peter says you are a holy 580 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:20,400 priesthood. We are a holy priesthood 581 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:23,760 offering spiritual sacrifices. In other words, the church is 582 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:27,240 not just a place you go on a tent, the churches of people 583 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:30,840 that we all serve together and we're serving God as we serve 584 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,120 one another. The Spirit builds us. 585 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,680 When we move from asking, hey, who's serving me? 586 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,120 And we start asking, who am I serving? 587 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:42,360 How am I serving? When we greet someone, when we 588 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,040 serve in kids ministry, when we host a group, when we encourage 589 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,160 someone who is struggling, those small acts of service are part 590 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,240 of how God is building us together. 591 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,840 So make room to serve others. Make room for presents, make 592 00:30:56,840 --> 00:31:00,320 room for real relationships, and make room for serving others. 593 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,400 So here's the truth that Peter wants us to see. 594 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,880 The Spirit changes us personally, but he forms us 595 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,440 collectively. That is what he's telling us. 596 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,160 The Christian life was never mean, never meant to be lived 597 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,880 alone. And God is building something 598 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:23,880 here. So let's make room in our lives 599 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:28,880 for what God is building now as a church. 600 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:31,680 I want to take this teaching seriously. 601 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:35,760 If the Spirit is changing us personally but forms us 602 00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:40,040 collectively, then creating space for real community matters 603 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,440 for us as a church. And that leads us to something 604 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,280 exciting that I want to share with you today. 605 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,800 Let me invite John La Mason back on the stage here to join me 606 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:58,360 here for just a moment. Many of you know John because 607 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:01,640 he's been serving faithfully in our worship ministry for the 608 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,600 past four years or so. John stepped in during a very 609 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:09,120 challenging time in our church, during a time of difficult 610 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:12,360 season, and you've been quietly just blessing our church for 611 00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:14,640 four years. It's been amazing as you've 612 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,880 served us. What some of you probably don't 613 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,760 know about John is that he also served as a pastor earlier in 614 00:32:20,760 --> 00:32:24,240 his life and has years of ministry experience helping 615 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,400 people grow in their faith. A lot of that is student 616 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:28,880 ministry, right? Yeah, Yeah. 617 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:32,160 And here's a little piece of Islands history that many of you 618 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,320 may not know, and this may be news to you. 619 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,640 John actually served as the pastor of Islands Christian 620 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,720 Church for several years before I came here. 621 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:45,520 That was quite a long time ago, right, John? 622 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,480 That was quite a long time ago. Now. 623 00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:52,640 I've been here 14 years, but I love this part of the story. 624 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,400 I think it's a really neat part of our story as a church that 625 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:59,120 God brought John back into the life of this church for the 626 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,800 season. I remember years ago when John 627 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:03,520 first, four years ago when he first came here, started 628 00:33:03,520 --> 00:33:05,680 serving, I said, and I want to tell people, you used to be the 629 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:08,080 pastor here and you said, I don't think we should say that. 630 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,880 And I said, and then when I was writing these remarks to share 631 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:14,120 this news, I said, man, John was so wise sharing it. 632 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:20,280 Today is so much better over the past several months I've been 633 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:24,000 praying really years, you know, how can we continue to help 634 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,120 people connect to Jesus, But more importantly, I shouldn't 635 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,880 say more importantly, but also the connect to each other part 636 00:33:30,120 --> 00:33:32,880 of our mission. And I asked John, hey, would you 637 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:35,720 consider joining our team, you know, in a part time role 638 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,680 helping us strengthen small groups and community life here 639 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,160 at islands. And after some prayer and 640 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:46,080 conversation with our elders, John said, yes, isn't that 641 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:52,960 great? So so beginning right now, this 642 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:57,000 moment, John will be serving as our part time small groups 643 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,680 pastor, helping us create more spaces where people can grow in 644 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,600 Christ together and live out the kind of community that we've 645 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,360 just been talking about South John, before we head out this 646 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,400 morning, I would love for everyone to hear a little about 647 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,560 your heart. So would you just answer one 648 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:15,199 question for us? What made you feel called to say 649 00:34:15,199 --> 00:34:18,040 yes to helping lead this part of our church? 650 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:24,080 Well, the the short answer is this, that in all the years that 651 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,719 I was a pastor, my very favorite part of ministry was not 652 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:31,880 preaching on Sunday morning, wasn't playing guitar when that 653 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:34,440 was necessary. It certainly wasn't going to the 654 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,199 youth camp. That was hard. 655 00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:36,960 You're. Good at it though. 656 00:34:37,600 --> 00:34:39,800 But. It was small group environments, 657 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,159 being in an environment where you're just in a circle of 658 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:47,679 chairs with maybe, you know, 3-4, up to 12 people in a group 659 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,840 and just being able to have conversations and being able to 660 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:54,360 study the word of God with people in more of a give and 661 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:58,840 take environment. That environment has always 662 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:02,240 been, in my opinion, just so crucial. 663 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,160 Not taking away anything from Sunday morning. 664 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,960 It's a, it's a very important part of what we do on Sunday 665 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:10,240 mornings. But a small group environment is 666 00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:13,760 something that can just really help people go to the next level 667 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,480 in their faith and in in building good friendships and 668 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,880 building a good community within our church to help you in so 669 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,800 many different ways. If you don't mind, I want to 670 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,640 share one more thing. Sure, we throw this up. 671 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,280 We got them locked down. They can't leave till I say they 672 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:31,800 can't. So you guys are probably, you 673 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:34,400 know, when you've read the the New Testament, you've seen these 674 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:37,680 phrases a lot, right? Love one another instruct one 675 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,440 another bear one another's burdens be kind to one another 676 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:45,640 forgive one another submit to one another teaching and 677 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,280 admonishing one another encourage one another, pray for 678 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,440 one another as each of you has received a gift, use it to serve 679 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,560 one another. This is all straight from the 680 00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:58,680 scripture, all about when we when, when the church was being 681 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:03,040 established, it was about, hey, we want to help one another and 682 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,720 it's all of us, not Steven, loving and admonishing and 683 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,720 encouraging all of us, loving and encouraging and helping each 684 00:36:12,720 --> 00:36:15,600 other out. That's how the church works 685 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:17,440 best. Yes, that's how the church 686 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:19,360 works. Yeah, that's how the church 687 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:20,640 works. That's how it works. 688 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,760 And so to be in a small group environment allows us those 689 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,000 opportunities to grow. I know that when we've just been 690 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,560 meeting for three weeks and, and I'll tell you, there's probably 691 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:33,200 been, I think we've had about eight or nine people each week 692 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,680 in the group, including myself. And in three weeks, I've gotten 693 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,840 to know those people really well, not just their names, not 694 00:36:39,840 --> 00:36:43,560 just where they work and you know who their kids are and, and 695 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:45,160 what's going on. We've prayed for one another. 696 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:47,200 What's going on? What can we pray for you about? 697 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,640 That tells you a lot about a person and I learned about their 698 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:53,080 musical taste. That's fun. 699 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:54,480 They like to hit what's on your Spotify. 700 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,320 You know those guys. You learn a lot about somebody 701 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:58,840 from that and just spending time with people. 702 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,440 Those environments guys are what I love the best. 703 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:07,280 And here's the best part, when I've helped to start groups 704 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:11,240 before and a lot of people come to group for the first time and 705 00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:13,000 they're like, I don't know what to expect. 706 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:14,200 I don't know what's going on here. 707 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:17,600 I'm kind of nervous and in the past three weeks, every single 708 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:22,240 week, I've had somebody make the comment to the effect of I, I 709 00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:23,720 really liked this. Like. 710 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:27,120 Like in surprise. So they were like, wow, this was 711 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:29,640 like a lot better than I thought it was going to be. 712 00:37:29,640 --> 00:37:31,320 I had no idea it could be like this. 713 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:33,480 So people were excited to be here. 714 00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:37,120 I've seen it where we've started groups before and I'd love to 715 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:39,400 see somebody who feels they come to the group the first time and 716 00:37:39,400 --> 00:37:42,280 they feel like they don't know the word of God at all. 717 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:45,600 They could never share that with anybody else. 718 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:48,960 And then in just a short time, that same person is being 719 00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:53,400 encouraged and and pushed along to the point to where some of 720 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,040 those people in that group are now leading groups. 721 00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:57,880 That's good and helping other people. 722 00:37:57,960 --> 00:38:00,400 That's what we want to see. That's why groups are my 723 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:02,760 favorite thing to do you. Guys think he was excited about 724 00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,440 doing this role. It's going to be good, right? 725 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:10,240 It's going to be good. I want someone to just say this 726 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:13,280 is possible because of your generosity, like your support of 727 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:17,520 this church's ministry, we're able to invest resources into 728 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:21,280 the roles that make the biggest impact on the lots of people. 729 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:22,680 So thank you for your generosity. 730 00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:24,600 Thanks for supporting the ministry here and what God is 731 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:26,200 doing. Will you stand with me? 732 00:38:26,200 --> 00:38:28,480 I'm going to ask John to pray for us. 733 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:30,720 And then if you want to come, you know, give John a little 734 00:38:30,720 --> 00:38:32,120 handshake or hug around his neck. 735 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:34,480 I mean, he's been here for, you know, four years. 736 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,960 But dude, I'm excited. I love the story. 737 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:39,720 And I'm honored that you said yes. 738 00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:44,240 I'm honored that you that you are taking the risk because I 739 00:38:44,240 --> 00:38:47,280 know there's some there's some heartache there from just you 740 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,760 know, some stuff. And and I'm I'm also proud of 741 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:54,640 you and I'll do my best to serve you, love you, defend you, look 742 00:38:54,640 --> 00:38:57,000 out for you. And then I hope and know that 743 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,560 you would do the same for me. Thanks you pray for us this 744 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:00,600 week. Let's pray. 745 00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:03,160 Father God, we thank you for this morning. 746 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:05,280 We thank you for the worship that we've had together. 747 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:10,160 We thank you for the time we've had to remember every week that 748 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,400 and hopefully every day the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made 749 00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:17,760 on a cross for us. God, we just we are so grateful 750 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:23,720 for your word that challenges us and and pushes us to be in a 751 00:39:23,720 --> 00:39:28,280 community more than surface level and to be in a 752 00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:31,160 relationship not just with each other, but in a relationship 753 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,640 with you God that is more than surface level. 754 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,520 That God you invite, that you would even invite us into that 755 00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:40,920 kind of relationship is unbelievable. 756 00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:43,800 Thank God. I pray that we would never take 757 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,000 that for granted and that as we leave this place, God, that we 758 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:52,680 would share how much you mean to us and how much we believe in 759 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:54,080 you. God, that we would share it in 760 00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:56,920 our words and in our deeds. As we go throughout this week, 761 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,040 we pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, Amen.